The author shares his top picks for reading outdoors in the captial
Iain Sinclair on the best London reading spots Photo: ALAMY
Bunhill Fields, Old Street
Between two busy streets nestles this peaceful oasis where William Blake, Daniel Defoe and John Bunyan are buried. My favourite spot is on a bench next to Blake’s memorial stone and beneath a fig tree. There is no better place to enjoy Blake’s complete works, as he was in many ways a very geographical writer, listing certain sections of London in his own cosmology. cityoflondon.gov.uk
Royal Institute of British Architects, Marylebone
This gracious and grand building has an excellent shop full of books on architecture. I’d pick one and head to the café space, which feels like it belongs in the Thirties or some other age when there was time to sit and read with a cup of tea and a cake. I love being surrounded by all the other people enjoying the leisurely side of London. I try to guess what they’re talking about. It’s like being in a Noël Coward play. architecture.com
St Augustine’s Tower, Hackney
The Gun, Isle of Dogs
This pub has a great balcony where you can look across the river. It really gives you a sense of London as a nautical city when you see all the boat traffic. The area also has a lot of history and for me conjures up stories about Lord Nelson, but I’d probably read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness with a pint and think about ancient river voyages.thegundocklands.com
Fountain Court, Temple
The sound of water and the trees encircling this court give it a classic feel. The atmospheric Temple church has been drawn into the mythologies of Dan Brown, but I’d settle down with a Shakespearean play. After all, Temple is where a lot of the plays were first put on. fountaincourt.co.uk
Iain Sinclair’s latest book, 'Ghost Milk’, is available now in Penguin paperback. Iain was speaking to Sarah Marsh
This article also appeared in SEVEN, free with the Sunday Telegraph. Follow SEVEN on Twitter @TelegraphSeven.
This pub has a great balcony where you can look across the river. It really gives you a sense of London as a nautical city when you see all the boat traffic. The area also has a lot of history and for me conjures up stories about Lord Nelson, but I’d probably read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness with a pint and think about ancient river voyages.thegundocklands.com
Fountain Court, Temple
The sound of water and the trees encircling this court give it a classic feel. The atmospheric Temple church has been drawn into the mythologies of Dan Brown, but I’d settle down with a Shakespearean play. After all, Temple is where a lot of the plays were first put on. fountaincourt.co.uk
Iain Sinclair’s latest book, 'Ghost Milk’, is available now in Penguin paperback. Iain was speaking to Sarah Marsh
This article also appeared in SEVEN, free with the Sunday Telegraph. Follow SEVEN on Twitter @TelegraphSeven.
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